About Great Slave Lake in Canada - Map, Location, Facts, Best Time to Visit Great Slave Lake In Canada PDF Great Slave Lake – Deepest Lake in North America Great Slave Lake is a large, deep lake located in the Northwest Territories of Canada, and a popular site to fish in both the summer and the winter. It is the deepest lake in North America (ranking 9th worldwide), and the second largest in the Northwest Territories after the Great Bear Lake. The lake is named for the Slavey people, a First Nations indigenous tribe, who originally inhabited the lake around Great Slave Lake. The Slavey people established the town of Dettah and others. British explorers arrived in the area in 1771, and the lake was frozen. Communities around the lake include the towns of Yellowknife, Hay River, Hay River Reserve, Behchoko, Fort Resolution, Dettah, N’Dilo, and the small village of Lutselk’e, which is mostly populated by native Chipewyans. Yellowknife became the capital of the Northwest Territories after the gold discovery in the 1930s, and later became the country’s diamond capital.

The lake’s tributaries are the Hay, Slave, and Taltson Rivers, and the Mackenzie River drains the lake into the Arctic Ocean. The lake was formed by glaciers, and still partially freezes over during winter. One ice road exists – the Dettah ice road, connecting Yellowknife to Dettah. There are islands within the lake and plenty of recreation opportunities. The East Arm of the lake is part of Thaydene Nene National Park, and to the south is Wood Buffalo National Park. Around the lake are many popular spots for fishing and ice fishing for a variety of fish species, including whitefish, trout, and perch. Great Slave Lake Map Location of Great slave lake in Canada Great Slave Lake Facts This Lake is 614 meters deep (336 fathoms, 2,010 feet). This Lake measures 480 kilometers (300 miles) long, and ranges from 19 to 109 kilometers (12 to 68 miles) wide, with an area of 27,200 square kilometers (10,502 square miles).

The volume of the Great Slave Lake ranges from 1,070 cubic kilometers (260 cubic miles) to 2,088 cubic kilometers (501 cubic miles). The Deh Cho Bridge is the longest jointless bridge on the continent. Where is Great Slave Lake? Great Slave Lake is located in the southern part of Canada’s Northwest Territories near the Alberta border. The lake communities are situated along Yellowknife Highway (Highway 3). The recently built Deh Cho Bridge crosses the Mackenzie River allowing vehicle access to Yellowknife during all seasons without the need for a ferry. The easiest way to travel around the Slave Lake is by car, but there are bus services to some of the towns around the lake. Another option is to take an ice fishing tour during winter. Some people opt for airplanes and bush planes to get access to other parts of the region that are without accessible roads. When to Visit Great Slave Lake As an outdoor recreation spot, Lake has something to offer year-round. Parts of the lake freeze over from November through May, and often into June, and it’s a popular spot for ice fishing. The ice road is also an interesting draw to the area.

During the summer, fishing and other outdoor activities take place around the lake. Nearby Attractions of Great Slave Lake Nahanni National Park Reserve, Wood Buffalo National Park, Inuvik Last updated : Wednesday, December 28, 2016 Great Slave Lake Map and Map of Great Bear Lake Depth Size History Information Page other bodies of water At 27,000 sq km (10,502 sq mi) Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in Canada's Northwest Territories; Only Great Bear Lake is somewhat larger. It's also the deepest lake in North America at 614 m (2,010 ft) and the planet's ninth largest. Positioned entirely within Canada's Northwest Territories, the lake is drained by the Mackenzie River. Great Slave Lake is mostly frozen late-fall through early-summer, and in winter the ice is often thick enough for semi-trailer trucks to cross it. Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories (population 18,700), sits on the lake's north shore. Great Slave Lake - The Canadian Encyclopedia Great Slave Lake Geography Great Slave Lake Great Slave Lake is located in the Northwest Territories.

It is the second largest lake entirely within Canadian borders, the fifth largest in North America, and the tenth largest in the world. Great Slave Lake is located in the Northwest Territories . It is the second largest lake entirely within Canadian borders, the fifth largest in North America, and the tenth largest in the world. With a maximum depth of 614 m, it is also North America’s deepest lake. Two arms, referred to as the North and East arms, extend from the lake. The name “Slave” derives from “Slavey” — a word sometimes applied to a major group of Dene people indigenous to the region. Geography Great Slave Lake formed at the end of the Wisconsinan glaciation , approximately 10,000 years ago. As the glacial ice retreated, sediment filled a former arm of the lake, along the present-day Slave River . The river remains the main source of water draining into the lake, although many smaller rivers and streams also contribute. The principal outflow of the lake is to the west, near Fort Providence (Zhati Koe), into the Mackenzie River .

As with Canada’s other large, northern lakes, Great Slave Lake straddles the boundary between the ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield and the younger Interior Platform (see also Geological Regions ). This location influences the character of the lake. The East Arm, which lies in the shield, is distinguished by numerous islands, complex shorelines, and great depths. At 614 m in Christie Bay, Great Slave Lake is deeper than any other glacial lake in North America or Europe. This unique character has influenced proposals to create a national park encompassing the East Arm. Ecology Early fisheries researchers divided Great Slave Lake into three areas based on distinctive fish populations: a central open area, the long North Arm, and the East Arm. The dominant fish species, such as lake whitefish , lake trout , and cisco, are generally found throughout the lake, with some variations. For example, lake whitefish avoid the deepest bays, but thrive in relatively cool, shallow waters. Lake trout and grayling are most abundant in the East and North arms. Shallow, warm, muddy waters on the southern shore and in the tip of the North Arm, near Behchokö , provide rich habitat for goldeye , white suckers , and walleye .

Great Slave Lake lies south of the treeline, within the northern boreal forest , and in the transitional space between woodlands and tundra . Jack pine and spruce are dominant species, with the most thickly wooded areas nearest to the shore. The lake has a moderating influence on the local climate, enabling a longer growing season than in regions farther from its waters. In general, Great Slave Lake begins to freeze over in late November and the ice remains until mid-to-late May. By mid-June the water is open, and mid-summer is the calmest time on the lake. In the fall, stormy weather becomes more common, often blowing in with little warning. History Human occupancy on the shores of Great Slave Lake can be dated back as far as 5,000 BCE. The richest archaeological sites belonged to ancestors of the Dene , known as the Taltheilei people (500 BCE to 1840 CE). These sites are grouped closely together off the eastern shore of the lake. The name of Great Slave Lake refers to “ Slavey ,” a name that was applied to, and sometimes adopted by, Dene living to the west of Great Slave Lake and down the Mackenzie River to Tulita .

The Tlicho (also known as Dogrib) oral tradition is rich in stories about conflict with the T’atsaot’ine (also known as Yellowknives ) on the lands just north of Great Slave Lake, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Around 1825, Edzo, leader of the Tlicho, and Akaitcho, leader of the T’atsaot’ine, made peace. By this time, non-Indigenous newcomers had been visiting Great Slave Lake for several decades. Akaitcho had met with Sir John Franklin at Fort Providence in 1820, initially agreeing to help guide Franklin and his men to the “shores of the polar sea.” Dene traded at North West Company posts, the first of which was established in the Slave River delta in 1786. Subsequent posts were established at the source of the Mackenzie and the mouth of the Yellowknife rivers. After the merger of the North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821, Fort Resolution (Deninu Kue) became the principal trading post on the lake.

Social changes for Indigenous people living around Great Slave Lake intensified in the latter half of the 19th century with the arrival of Christian missionaries. The Sisters of Charity ( Grey Nuns ) opened the North’s first residential school at Fort Providence (1867-1960), while Anglican missionaries opened a residential school at Hay River , which operated from 1895 to 1937. A third residential school operated at Fort Resolution from 1903 to 1957. Children from Great Slave Lake and farther away attended these schools. After the 1950s, the federal government, and then the territorial government in 1969, took over responsibility for schooling in the territories and established student hostels and day schools, which operate in all of the communities on the shores of Great Slave Lake. The south shore of Great Slave Lake was included in Treaty 8 when, in 1900, at Fort Resolution, Old Man (Emil) Drygeese signed as leader of the T’atsaot’ine from the northeast shore of Great Slave Lake. Chief Sunrise and Councillor Lamalice signed on behalf of the Hay River Dene.

The remainder of Great Slave Lake was included in Treaty 11, which was signed in 1921 at Fort Providence by the Tlicho and other Dene groups from the region. During the negotiations of Treaty 11, First Nations groups were assured that they would not lose the right to hunt, fish, and trap on their traditional lands, but it is widely acknowledged that this promise was not honoured by the Canadian government. Métis at Fort Resolution and Fort Providence were not included in the treaties, but were instead issued “scrip” — a one-time payment intended to settle their legal claims with the government. Prospectors had been looking for minerals in the exposed rocks along the shores of the lake since the late 19th century. In 1934, following the discovery of gold , there was a mining rush on the north shore of the lake. Consolidated Mining & Smelting (later Cominco) dominated gold production on Great Slave Lake with the opening of the Con Mine in 1938. After the Second World War it was joined by the Giant Mine, which opened in 1948.

The Con and Giant mines closed within a year of each other in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Pine Point, an open-pit lead-zinc mine on the south shore of the lake, between Hay River and Fort Resolution, went into production in 1963. A town was built to serve the mine. The mine closed in 1988, and the town was abandoned shortly thereafter. In addition to the mining operations on shore, the immediate postwar period saw the rise of commercial fishing on Great Slave Lake. Biologists working for the federal government surveyed the lake in 1944-45 and determined that its fish stocks could sustain increased harvesting, in addition to that carried out by the long-standing domestic and sport fisheries. As a result, the government established commercial fishing operations at Hay River, and aimed to manage stocks using scientific conservation methods. In the early years, many of the commercial fishers were non-Indigenous settlers or sojourners who travelled to the lake only during the short summer and winter fishing seasons. Local Dene and Métis fishers made up a greater proportion of commercial fishers in later decades. Lake whitefish and trout were the most important commercial species.

Although sold locally and regionally in Western Canada, the most significant markets were in the United States. Environmental Concerns Notwithstanding the federal government’s scientific oversight, the initial years of commercial production seriously strained the fish stocks in Great Slave Lake. Some species, like lake whitefish and lake trout, recovered. Others have had more complicated histories. Seasonal inconnu runs declined dramatically in the Yellowknife area in the 1940s and on the south shore of the lake near Buffalo River in the 1970s, but have been making a comeback around Yellowknife since 2000. Pollution from local mining activities and long-range contaminants has been found in lake-bed sediments, fish, and other aquatic species. The biggest single source of pollution is the arsenic trioxide waste that was generated by the Giant Mine, 237,000 tonnes of which is now stored in underground chambers. During the life of the mine, arsenic tailings spilled into Back Bay, contaminating the water supply for the mine and the city of Yellowknife, as well as for the surrounding communities.

The city’s water supply was relocated but contamination in Back Bay and Yellowknife Bay continued, primarily affecting the Dene communities of N’dilo and Dettah. Arsenic is currently found in higher concentrations in fish near the former mine site than elsewhere on the lake. Climate change is contributing to changes in water levels on Great Slave Lake, although it is not the only factor. The construction of the W.A.C. Bennett dam on the Peace River in the late 1960s influenced water levels on Great Slave Lake, as the Peace-Athabasca system feeds the Slave River, and the Slave River in turn feeds the lake. While the Bennett dam tends to lower water levels, increased precipitation in the watershed (the result of climate change) raises water levels. Changes in the timing of high water can lead to unpredictable flooding along the lake shores, while lower water levels influence water quality, fish and animal habitats, and transportation. Climate change is also influencing ice cover on the lake, shortening the spring hunting period as a result of hazardous thin ice. Great Bear Lake - The Canadian Encyclopedia Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake, located in the Northwest Territories, is the largest lake located entirely inside Canadian borders.

Great Bear Lake, located in the Northwest Territories , is the largest lake located entirely inside Canadian borders. It is also the fourth largest in North America and the eighth largest in the world. Water flows out of the lake into the Great Bear River, then into the Mackenzie River . Other rivers connected to the lake include the Dease, Camsell and Johnny Hoe. Great Bear Lake is made up of five separate arms, each with their own names: Dease, McTavish, McVicar, Keith and Smith. Geography The Dease Arm lies north of the Arctic Circle allowing for 24-hour daylight in summer. Great Bear Lake straddles the boundary between the Canadian Shield and the Interior Platform , as well as the northern boreal forest and tundra (see also Geological Regions ; Forest Regions ). The northeast shores of the lake feature sharp cliffs, numerous islands and fjord-like bays. By contrast, the southwest shores of the lake are flatter, with rich stands of spruce and large swaths of muskeg . The main elevation on this side of the lake is created by the Scented Grass Hills and Grizzly Bear Mountain.

Ecology The rivers surrounding Great Bear Lake drain nutrient-poor lands, which, combined with a small watershed, colder temperatures and considerable depth (at its deepest point, Great Bear Lake reaches 452 metres), mean the lake supports relatively few plant and fish species. Of Canada’s large lakes, Great Bear Lake has the fewest number of different fish species (only 16). Because the fish do not migrate much within the lake, its five arms are home to unique populations. History Great Bear Lake is a part of the Yamoria legends — ancient Dene stories about giant heroes, animals, and living landscapes. In 1996, Grizzly Bear Mountain and the Scented Grass Hills (called Saoyú and Æehdacho in Slavey ) were designated a national historic site. Saoyú and Æehdacho is Canada’s largest national historic site and serves to acknowledge and protect the importance of these landscapes to Dene narratives, culture and history. Ancient and historic land use was by no means confined to this protected area, however.

The north shore, for instance, connects Great Bear Lake to important areas for hunting caribou and muskoxen , and oral histories about this area detailed interactions between Dene and Inuvialuit . Important fisheries were located where rivers meet the lake. The Johnny Hoe River flows into the McTavish Arm and was historically the site for a significant spring fishery. As with the north shore, the south shore and this fishery in particular encouraged contact between different Indigenous peoples. Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib) and T’atsaot’ine (Yellowknives), fished here and sometimes came into conflict. Elsewhere, fast running waters at the meeting of Great Bear Lake and Great Bear River kept the surface from freezing, enabling year-round fishing for cisco — a practice that dates back at least 6,000 years. The value of the fisheries at this site, known as Délįne (“where the water flows”), made it highly attractive to traders and explorers who arrived in the region at the beginning of the 19th century.

The North West Company established its Great Bear Lake post at Délįne in 1799 and explorer Sir John Franklin chose it as the location of Fort Franklin (his winter headquarters during his expedition in 1825–27). Franklin’s men amused themselves by skating and playing hockey on the ice of Great Bear Lake, one of the earliest recorded instances of the game being played in Canada. Most of the current English names for Great Bear Lake and the surrounding area date from the fur trade period. The name of the lake itself likely originated from Alexander Mackenzie translating the Slavey words for “grizzly bear lake” as “great bear lake.” The five arms of the lake are named after members of the Hudson’s Bay Company who helped Franklin on his northern journeys. During the fur trade period, most of the Indigenous peoples who lived around Great Bear Lake continued to move from place to place. The Idaà Trail, a portage route, connected Great Bear Lake with Great Slave Lake , and there were villages as well as hunting and fishing sites all along the way. Only after 1900 did more Dene settle at Délįne.

Among them was Ehtseo (Grandfather) Ayah, an important Dene prophet, born in 1857. In 1921, Sahtu Dene signed Treaty 11 at Tulita (Fort Norman), where they often visited for trade. The entire lake was included within the treaty’s boundaries. Significant change came to Great Bear Lake in 1930 when prospectors, drawn to the brightly coloured rocks on the lake’s eastern shore, identified a deposit rich in pitchblende and silver. Pitchblende is a dark, heavy radioactive mineral and the principal source of radium and uranium . The medical applications of radium, used to treat cancers in the early 20th century, made this a highly valuable find. A prospecting rush followed soon thereafter. By 1934, three mines had opened on Great Bear Lake. The largest — the Eldorado mine — was located at Cameron Bay (later Port Radium), the site of the original find. Radium and silver were mined from Great Bear Lake until the Second World War , when labour shortages and decreased demand forced the mines to close by 1940.

In 1942, the Canadian government secretly reopened the principal Eldorado mine in order to extract uranium (which had previously been disposed of as waste). Some of the uranium went to the Manhattan Project — an American research program that aimed to create nuclear weapons during the Second World War . Uranium mining continued on Great Bear Lake until the Eldorado mine closed again in 1960, while post-war silver mining took place between 1964 and 1982. Most of the mine workers came to Great Bear Lake from southern Canada or farther afield. Mining companies hired Sahtu Dene as prospectors to find new ore deposits. Dene also sold meat and fish to people living and working at Port Radium, although many of the newcomers liked to fish and hunt for sport. Indeed, fishing by people at Port Radium, combined with the low biological productivity of the lake, meant that it did not take long for the fish stocks nearest to the mining operations to become depleted. A federal government fisheries survey of Great Bear Lake, completed in 1944–45, described the lake as a “biological desert” and declared it permanently closed to commercial fishing operations.

Domestic fishing by local Dene and sport fishing were permitted, however, and the lodges on the lake remain important tourism destinations for anglers. Délįne expanded alongside Port Radium in the 1940s and 1950s, and more Dene settled in the community, particularly after the uranium mining operations ceased in 1960. As awareness of the hazards of radium and uranium mining increased in the later 20th century, the legacy of the mine operations on Great Bear Lake served as an important catalyst for political activism on the part of the Dene people living in Délįne (also known as Sahtúot’ine). In 1998, a group travelled to Hiroshima to express their great sadness that uranium taken from the shores of Great Bear Lake had been used as a weapon against distant people. Closer to home, Sahtúot’ine were leaders in advocating for protection and preservation of culturally significant landscapes on Great Bear Lake, pursuing research to study the health and environmental effects of the uranium mine, and negotiating for self-government.

These negotiations culminated in the Sahtu Dene and Métis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, finalized in 1993 and incorporating Great Bear Lake, which resolved outstanding concerns about aboriginal and treaty rights that the Dene and Métis successfully argued had not been settled by Treaty 11 in 1921. Environmental Concerns The toxic legacy of historical mining operations on Great Bear Lake remains an environmental concern. Although uranium-rich tailings originally dumped on the lake bed were mostly removed as part of the 1950s mining operations, radioactive materials and heavy metals persist both in the lake and in surface ponds on the eastern shore. Recent research has demonstrated that heavy metals are accumulating in fish found near Port Radium in higher concentrations than elsewhere on the lake. Natural sources of mercury have contaminated fish from the Johnny Hoe River at high enough levels to be a health concern and, as a result, the formerly important domestic fishery at the site has been largely abandoned. CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THE TRIP “We don’t use decoys,” he says, suddenly serious. Marlowe is one of the most experienced hunters in his village of Lutselk’e, a First Nations community on the eastern shore of Great Slave Lake.

“The only duck we hunt in the fall is the scoter because they’re so fat they can hardly fly. Everybody shoots a couple of scoters and freezes them whole, so if you run out of food in the winter, you always have a duck. The stringy ducks? We only shoot them in the spring, when they’re juicy. We get them in the puddles just off the road.” As it dawns on me that he’s probably picking off nesting hens, I also realize that the sort of hunting that Marlowe does is vastly different from the sort of hunting that I do. As seriously as I take it, I hunt for fun, and follow a complicated set of rules, limits, and seasons. Marlowe isn’t bound by any of those constraints; he hunts to feed his people. Lutselk’e Great Slave Lake, as seen from the village of Lutselk’e CHANGE ON THE WIND The following afternoon, after he watches us shoot fat scoters and stringy scaup over those “toy” decoys, Marlowe hunches over a wood-burning stove and drops floured fillets of lake trout into sizzling oil.

A yellow birch leaf flutters into the pan, and Marlowe flips it out before stuffing more twigs onto the fire and moving around the stove—a rusty 55-­gallon oil drum turned on its side and snugged in the shoreline sand of Duhamel Lake—to tend a simmering pot. Inside, a meaty moose rib floats in foamy gray water. When the moose is cooked through, Marlowe plucks it from the broth and places the rib on a grate over the flame to brown, nudging it next to the singed carcass of a duck that Jennings killed hours earlier. Marlowe turns the trout fillets. Then he pulls a putty-colored tube of meat from his cooler, sniffs it, pinches a hair or two from its glistening surface, and lays it on the grate next to the moose. It’s a tenderloin from the last caribou Marlowe shot, about six months earlier and nearly 50 miles to the east of here. Satisfied with the progress of his meal, Marlowe leans back in his lawn chair and studies the sky.

The wind, to his surprise, is out of the east, and delivers more golden birch leaves to his alfresco range. “Tomorrow, we might get more ducks,” he pronounces. “Or snow. We’ll eat when the caribou is done.” James Marlowe is a 40-something First Nations man. He speaks excellent English, but with a lilting, musical cadence to his speech. His first language is Athabascan, the tongue of his ancestors, members of the Akatcho band of the Dene. Marlowe (his surname is an Anglicized version of “Marlu”) has a broad, friendly face and wears blue jeans, black high-top sneakers, and a camouflage jacket with the label still on the sleeve. He was born in Lutselk’e—which means “place of the cisco” in Athabascan—just over the ridge from Duhamel Lake, where we are about to tuck in to this carnivore’s feast. Marlowe calls it “country food,” as in: It’s all from the country we are in right now, the eastern drainage of Great Slave Lake, the immense body of water that defines much of Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Chris Jennings nets ciscoes Chris Jennings nets ciscoes under the northern lights. This is one of the most remote places on Earth. You can get here only by dogsled (as Marlowe’s ancestors did), by propeller aircraft (as I did), by motorboat, or by the once-a-year barge that brings pickups, television sets, sofas, building supplies, and fuel oil to the 300 or so inhabitants of Lutselk’e. In the winter, you can get here by snowmobile across the frozen lake. But even here, 125 miles from the nearest paved road, located in the provincial capital of Yellowknife, there’s more than snow and ducks in the air. Change is blowing in, too, and from every direction. To the north, a constellation of diamond mines is proposed to be carved out of the stunted-birch forest. To the south, Alberta’s industrial tar-sand energy extraction zone is grinding toward Hay River, a main tributary of Great Slave Lake.

To the west, the fastest-growing business sector in Yellowknife is hosting conjugal visits by Asian honeymooners, who fly from Tokyo and Beijing to this permafrost outpost to consummate their marriage under the northern lights in the belief that it will bring good luck, and baby boys, to their union. My presence here also represents change to a culture that depends on trout and caribou for their prosperity. I’m here as a sort of experiment, a test to see if subsistence hunters like James Marlowe can make a living as commercial hunting and fishing guides, leading visitors from the south to their own “country food.” ishing boats nosed in to the shore at Lutselk’e; a retired Northwest Territories license plate Left: Fishing boats nosed in to the shore at Lutselk’e; Right: A retired Northwest Territories license plate SUSTAINABLE TOURISM The land around Great Slave Lake is called the boreal forest, but it’s hard to think of this as a woodland.

While a bristle of scraggly fir and birch trees covers the rocks, the dominant landform is water—frozen for more than half the year—a galaxy of small pothole ponds and long finger lakes that spreads in every direction away from the granddaddy of them all: Great Slave. The native humans of this place, the various clans of the Dene, survived here for hundreds of years on the animals and plants that evolved in this frosty biome stretching roughly between latitudes of 50 to 70 degrees north. The boreal, sometimes called the “taiga,” defines most of northern Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia. “Ever been north of 60?” asked one of my companions on this trip, wetlands ecologist Gary Stewart, as we flew from Edmonton to Yellowknife. He was asking about 60 degrees of latitude, the universally accepted gateway to the North. “It’s different north of 60.” Stewart, along with Jennings and Fritz Reid of Ducks Unlimited, asked me to fly to Lutselk’e (latitude 62.24 degrees north) with them to hunt ducks in one of the largest and most intact waterfowl habitats on earth.

They also aimed to see how local Dene hunters might transition from hunting to feed their families and neighbors to guiding visitors who hunt for sport. It’s part of a larger plan to bring sustainable economic development to the Dene. Tribal leaders recognize the change that’s closing in on their pristine homelands. While the idea of fat paychecks from diamond mining is appealing, the mines that operate in the Territories have fractured the fragile habitat, interrupted caribou migrations, and created divisive income gaps in traditional communities. Fritz Reid’s Lab, Boreal, fetches a bufflehead; Fritz Reid Left: Fritz Reid’s Lab, Boreal, fetches a bufflehead; Right: Ducks Unlimited biologist Fritz Reid waits on another flight of ducks. His bag includes buffleheads, green-winged teal, and scoters. Tribal leaders are looking instead for an activity that can bring income but allow members to stay in their remote communities and engage in work that meshes with their sustainable land ethic. Their answer: ecotourism. In the summer, the Dene hope to run campgrounds and work as rangers in a huge tribal park along the north shore of Great Slave.

And in the fall and winter, they hope to guide visiting hunters to moose, caribou, trophy lake trout, and ducks. Ducks Unlimited is encouraging this sustainability model through its Boreal Initiative for a fundamental reason: If an intact, functional homeland for First Nations members can be conserved, so, too, can intact, functional habitats for native animals, such as the millions of waterfowl hatched each year in Canada’s northern forest. My companions and I are the first of what the tribe expects to be a march of hunters from south of 60, and this intersection of sport and subsistence hunting comes with plenty of head-scratching curiosities. James Marlowe motors Chris Jennings and translator Larry Innes to a duck spot. James Marlowe motors Chris Jennings and translator Larry Innes to a duck spot. GET THE NET Fishing the trophy lake trout of Great Slave Lake has been on my list for years, so along with my shotgun and waterfowl camo, I brought a stout rod and plenty of heavy jigging lures to Lutselk’e. When I mention to Marlowe that I’m interested in the lake’s fish, he shrugs.

“We’ll get fish,” he says, a little unenthusiastically. Before long, we are puttering around the big lake in Marlowe’s fiberglass boat. The lake is so immense, and its points and bays so same-looking, that I wondered where we’d start. But Marlowe is decisive. We motor to a rocky point across the bay from town, where two orange floats bob in the water 100 yards offshore. “We’ll fish here,” he says. So we do, casting and jigging around the orange floats. After several fishless minutes, I ask Marlowe why he picked this spot. The floats identify a gill net, he says, set to snare fish swimming past the rocky point. “When someone in town wants fish, we come out to the net and get some,” he says. I look down at the puny lure hanging off my rod, and then at the vast lake, and I understand the locals’ wisdom, and the efficiency of their style of fishing.

As we boat around the lake, looking for more fishy points—and to our guide’s surprise, hooking a few meaty lakers for the frying pan—Marlowe asks me a question that reveals both the reach and limitations of his understanding of the world beyond Lutselk’e. I have been surprised at the degree of modernity in this remote place. Every house has electricity, multiple televisions, modern appliances, and even wifi. There are dozens of four-wheelers and pickups that villagers drive on the few miles of gravel roads around town. Most of these goods come on the once-yearly barge, which also delivers non-perishable goods to the only business in town, a combination grocery-hardware store, and anything else too big to fit in a plane or on a snowmobile. During the long winters, the town’s hunters watch a lot of televised hunting shows from the U.S., Marlowe says. From satellite TV, he’s familiar with celebrity hunters and with hunting techniques for animals he’s never seen: wild turkeys, whitetail deer, feral hogs. But Marlowe has a question that had nagged him for years, and finally he has a visitor to ask.

“Why is it,” he asks, “that I never see Lee and Tiffany skinning their deer?” Jennings hoists a Snowdrift River lake trout; breaded trout fillets fry over a wood fire. Left: Jennings hoists a Snowdrift River lake trout; Right: breaded trout fillets fry over a wood fire. BENEATH THE STIRRING ICE I ask Marlowe where the magnum lake trout of Great Slave might be caught. He points to the mouth of the Snowdrift River, which enters the lake just beyond town. “In the fall, ciscoes move up the river to spawn, and the lakers follow,” says Marlowe. “You want to catch a big trout, you have to first catch a cisco.” That night, Jennings and I join what seems like the entire village of Lutselk’e after dark, stabbing dip nets into the current to catch the darty little baitfish. The villagers will dry the fish to eat all year. We’re more interested in feeding the ciscoes to lakers. The river is literally flashing with fish, the silver-sided ciscoes slashing upstream.

Overhead, the northern lights crackle and swirl and drape the river in an eerie green twilight. Marlowe, who helps us rig the ciscoes in treble-hook harnesses, tells us that the Dene call the lights “stirring ice.” We drift the bait, and in the half-glow of the aurora, we miss one explosive strike after another before finally hooking a couple of 10-pound lakers. It’s well after midnight before we slip into our sleeping bags. Canada's Northwest Territories The party hunted on the east shore of Northwest Territories’ Great Slave Lake. THE DUCKS ARRIVE On our final day in the Territories, we return to Duhamel Lake, which means “Lake on the Other Side.” Most landmarks here have names taken from the Dene that translate to: “Lake That Freezes First,” “Lake on the Way,” “Big Rock Lake.” Great Slave’s Dene name is translated simply as “Big Lake.” We set our decoys off a different point, and the ducks pour in. The species mix is diverse: mallards, pintails, green-winged teal, buffleheads, both surf and white-winged scoters, long tails.

In all, we bag close to 40 birds. Marlowe comments on our surprisingly good wingshooting. We’re impressed with his choice of spots and anticipation of the ducks’ behavior. This is how a cultural exchange should work, both guests and host learning from each other. The best evidence it’s gone well? Marlowe asks to keep a handful of our “toy-duck” decoys. We roast a few more ducks for our country-food shore lunch, but even before we’re back in Lutselk’e, word of our hunting success is out. A white van is parked at Marlowe’s house, and as we pull up, a Dene woman rolls down her window. “Got some ducks?” “Of course,” says Marlowe, handing over a clutch of buffleheads. Then he gives her a handful of scoters. “For your granny,” he says. North of 60, when it comes to wild meat, windfalls are for sharing. Great Slave Lake: Canadian fishing lake for trout & northern pike | Frontier Fishing Lodge or request more info Canadian Fishing at Great Slave Lake Frontier Fishing Lodge is located on the east arm of Great Slave Lake, in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The lake is well known for lake trout fishing , arctic grayling , whitefish , and northern pike fishing , and is the second largest lake in Canada at 10,980 sq mi (28,400 sq km). Great Slave Lake has been the home of our lodge for many years. It’s simply a beautiful place to fish. We’ve seen many anglers come through our resort since we started, and two things can definitely be said: every day promises to be another day of great fishing – and fishing stories! And the pictures we have on our walls can attest to it. There are just so many places here at the lake to fish – there’s room enough, and fish enough, for everyone. Lake Fishing in the Land of the Midnight Sun The most interesting fact about Great Slave Lake? During winter it is frozen enough for large trucks to drive across. In fact, until 1967 goods were shipped across the ice to Yellowknife. After this time, an all-season highway was built around the lake. Great Slave Lake’s western shores are heavily wooded, and the long east and north arms meet up with the icy tundra. Makes for spectacular lake fishing scenery.

Truly nature’s wonderland for all of us, this lake is a Canadian fishing dream come true! Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada Vacation Info - Lakelubbers Larger Map Great Slave Lake is the fifth-largest lake (by acreage) in North America and, following Great Bear Lake, is the second-largest in Canada. A natural lake, it is located in south-central Northwest Territories (NWT). Located just south of the Arctic Circle, Great Slave Lake is frozen about five and a half months out of the year. With an area of nearly 7 million acres and more islands than can be named, Great Slave Lake is an outdoor utopia for visitors who seek the peace and quiet of a large, beautiful, mostly untouched lake. The area was explored by Samuel Hearne in 1771 who initially named the lake Lake Athupuscow. The city of Yellowknife was started in 1935 with gold being discovered; in 1967 it became the capital of the Northwest Territories. With gold mining petering out, Yellowknife grew as a government center and now is growing again with the discovery of diamonds. Pre-glacial valleys formed the bottom of Great Slave Lake.

Its west side is mostly forested wilderness, and the north and east arms join with the barren tundra. At a maximum depth of over 2000 feet, Great Slave Lake is the deepest lake in North America. It is irregular in shape, almost 300 miles long, and 12 to almost 70 miles wide. A pristine lake environment, its water sources are numerous streams and rivers including Hay, Yellowknife, Snare, Beaulieu, Emile, Snowdrift and the Taltson. The lake drains into the Mackenzie River. The Great Slave Lake area affords a wonderful boating milieu for kayakers, canoeists and sailing enthusiasts. As one might expect on a lake surrounded by wilderness, there are multitudes of inlets, islands and quiet bays to try. Imagine luxuriating in the quiet outdoors. Sport fishing is super with trophy size lake trout, artic grayling, northern pike and whitefish the main attractions. Ice fishing expeditions are frequent, again with trophy size catches for the avid angler. Guides offer dog team tours in winter, snowmobiling across the vast expanses of ice.

There are a number of geocaches around Yellowknife for the intrepid 'cacher' - anyone visiting should try these for an unusual 'find'. Great Slave Lake hosts the month-long Winter Festival each March on Yellowknife Bay. An elaborate ice castle is constructed each year to house the festival, which includes an auditorium, courtyard, cafe, slide, and turrets. During the winter, an ice road connects Yellowknife to the First Nations community of Dettah. Another treat for visitors near the spring and fall equinoxes are the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis, that create spectacular displays of color in the nighttime skies. Great Slave Lake wildlife viewing is great; caribou, musk ox, black bear, and bald eagles are to be spotted on most any excursion. A trip to one of the remote lodges from November to April is recommended for Northern Lights viewing and a meal of musk ox, a unique experience. Houseboat living in Yellowknife Bay is a way of life for some rugged individualists. About 40 houseboats make the Bay their home.

In 2014, the television channel Animal Planet began a reality show titled "Ice Lake Rebels" that followed a small group of houseboaters who choose to live off-the-grid, following their challenges during the long, harsh winters. The wilderness setting of Great Slave Lake provides a spectacular scene in which to participate with the rustic outdoors. A trip there will be an outstanding adventure. Copyright © 2007-2017 Lakelubbers LLC. All Rights Reserved. Please LINK to our homepage or to this Great Slave Lake page. Lake Locations

Question: The Great Bear Lake and the Great Slave Lake are in which country?
Answer: CANADA